Minister for Irrigation T. Harish Rao said the State Government was committed to provide irrigation facility to at least one lakh acres in Wanaparthy constituency by completing Bhima, Kalwakurthy and other minor and lift irrigation projects.
After laying foundation stone for construction of the branch canal of Buddaram Peddacheruvu in Pedda Mandadi mandal of Wanaparthy district on Monday, he stated that the canal taken up with ₹20 crore would irrigate lands in 21 villages in the mandal.
Stating that Ghanapuram branch canal was completed in a record time recently with ₹180-crore investment, the Minister pointed out that the scenes of ‘thunga’ (cattail), a plant that grows in wetlands or areas of water flow/storage, growth nowadays in the erstwhile Palamuru (Mahabubnagar) district, was heartening. The growth of even grass was difficult in many areas after rainy season in the past.
Mr. Harish Rao stated that the Government was planning to ensure support price to groundnut cultivated on a large scale in the district by opening procurement centres soon.
The Minister explained that new godowns were constructed at Pebbair, Wanaparthy, Pedda Mandadi and Ghanapuram with a storage capacity of 30,000 tonnes, put together.
Turning to politics, Mr. Harish Rao said the Congress party was day dreaming about winning 70 assembly seats in the next elections, as stated by Pradesh Congress Committee president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy at Warangal on Sunday. Responding to the Congress claims that 90% of works of major irrigation projects in erstwhile Mahabubnagar district were completed by 2014 itself, the minister sought to know why, in that case, the previous regime was able to give water to only 50,000 acres.
He stated that the TRS Government had given water to 6.5 lakh acres this year with the help of works done for the last three years.
